Sacrifice
by Jaum
Summary: Sometimes, you must put the needs of the world above your own. Zuko understood this. Zutara


**Hello, this is my first fic written in english. I really need to thank a friend for the huge help correcting my mistakes and giving me precious advice. I would never manage to post this story if it wasn't this person. Thanks a lot Advocaat!**

This happens sometime after the end of the series.

**I hope you enjoy it.**  
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The last airbender ran through the forest, leaving a gush of air behind him. Thousands of leaves lifted into the night, and slumbering birds woke while the avatar ran away into the darkness.

It was a half an hour after later, Aang was in a clearing when a fireball exploded a few centimeters from his feet, forcing him to jump backwards. When he looked back, Zuko was walking out of the woods, looking him with hard eyes.

"So now you're going to attack me?"

"Not yet. I just did that to get your attention," the firebender responded.

"So, you kissed her, Zuko. You have the girl I like. What do you want from me!?"

Zuko shook his head. "She doesn't like me, Aang. I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have brought this on you; tainted your soul with bitter feelings. I know how that feels. I should have kept this to myself."

Zuko's eyes softened.

"You're the avatar; the bridge between our world and the spirit world. Your state reflects both worlds' states. I was afraid I'd end up corrupting you somehow, and I was right. I failed you today" Zuko's expression became determined then."But I swear, Aang. I'll make things right again."

"Wait...she doesn't like you?" Aang asked with hope in his eyes. "And what are you talking about?"

"I mean that Katara has no fault in this. I'm the one to blame. She likes you, you know."

"But you have feelings for her?"

Zuko's silence was all the confirmation Aang needed.

"Well...I guess I can forgive you..."

Zuko looked straight to Aang's eyes, like he was trying to read his mind.

"So, you don't resent me for kissing her? You're not mad?"

"No..."

Zuko turned his chin away. "Liar."

"I'm not lying!" Aang denied. "I said I could forgive you. What's the point in this?"

"We need to settle this, Aang. I don't want you to harbor any hard feelings toward me." He began to unfasten his belt and then he slipped his tunic off his shoulders, throwing it to the side. The moonlight illuminated the pale skin of his now bare, scarred chest. "There's only one way to do this. We'll fight." he declared. "Agni Kai."

Aang's eyes widened. "Are you—" He was cut off as a fireball was sent straight at his head.

"Fight, Aang! I know you're angry with me. Fight me for her!" Zuko commanded. He continued to attack Aang, hurling fireballs while running toward him.

"You're the angry one here!" Aang returned as he leapt around, dodging Zuko's fireballs. "I won't fight you!"

Zuko rushed straight for Aang as the young airbender attempted to make a getaway on his glider, and he quickly breathed a ball of fire at the staff, burning the wings so that it was unusable.

Without warning, a hole opened right beside them, and a small girl with milky eyes jumped out.

"What the hell?" she called, taking in the situation.

"Don't interfere, Toph."

"Oh, I won't, Sparky. A friendly death-match is just the thing to spice up my evening. But geez, you're not really trying to kill him, are you?"

Zuko didn't answer. Aang was trying to run again. The firebender jumped high, using his bending as propulsion, and dived in the Avatar's direction to give him a flaming kick. However, the boy suddenly turned to him and blew him out of the air with a gust of wind.

"That's better," Zuko called, standing up from where he'd fallen and resuming his bending position.

Aang shook his head and looked back at him with a hard expression. "I won't fight you, Zuko. I see no reason for this."

At the young monk's words, Zuko's face changed to a scowl of frustration. "Then how can you say you like her, Aang?" he demanded, arcing his hand in front of him and making a trail of fire in the air. "You're never clear! You just want us to believe you only have a good side, when in fact you're just hiding the less noble parts like nobody will think they're there if you just cover them up enough. You are still human, after all. I know you're angry with me! Show me your anger so you can release it!"

"I have no anger!"

"That's bullshit! You're afraid to admit it! That's why you keep her in doubt, you know!"

"AND YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT HER!" Aang screamed back, suddenly furious.

Zuko quickly realized he'd touched a nerve with his words, because Aang's eyes and tattoos began to glow, and his body lifted into the air. Without hesitating, the child Avatar moved his arms in quick, succinct earthbending motions, causing five boulders to emerge from the ground and fly in Zuko's direction.

"What do you know about her, Zuko? A few months ago you were trying to kill her!" Aang accused as Zuko dodged the boulders and tried to advance in his direction.

Zuko's eyes narrowed._ That's why I think I know her. Because I had the chance to meet her as both an enemy and an ally_.

Aang caught Zuko's approach and sent a fireball at his chest. Zuko bent it away, but the time it took to disperse the flames was just the time the Avatar needed to slam the ground with his foot, causing a pillar of rock to shoot up in front of the firebender and hit him in the chest, cracking his ribs with its brute force. Zuko cried out in pain as the impact sent him flying. There was a loud crack as his body smacked into a tree a good ten meters away, and he promptly lost consciousness.

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When Zuko woke up, he was in the grass. Toph and Aang were standing at his side, and Katara was healing him with a nervous expression. Aang stared down at him with a serious look.

"Zuko, you were right about me," the young airbender confessed. "The only way for me to control my emotions is to face them. I'll start by admitting that I can't forgive you yet."

That said, the airbender turned and walked off in Appa's direction, leaving him and the two girls behind.

Katara rounded on him next. "What the hell were you thinking?" she demanded.

"Move away, Katara. I'm okay," he said coolly.

Surprised by his coldness, the waterbender looked to Toph for elucidations, but the blind girl only gave her a look that showed she didn't understand Zuko's reaction any better than Katara did.

Looking back at him, Katara said, "Did he hit your head too? I just glued your bones back together five minutes ago."

Zuko looked up at her, taking in her lovely face, her soft skin, her pretty blue eyes. She wasn't his. She would never be his. The knowledge hurt him, and he sighed, steeling himself for what he was about to do. "Katara..." he said, banishing any emotion from his face. "Come closer. I need to say something."

Katara leaned in, looking expectant and nervous in equal measures.

"I'm going to make things easier for you," he declared, looking into her eyes seriously. He allowed himself just a moment to admire her features once more, then he took a deep breath and said, "Whatever my actions before may have lead you to believe, I have no feelings for you. You're a filthy peasant, and that's all you'll ever be to me."

Katara's eyes widened in shock at his words. Then they narrowed dangerously and she looked at him with pure anger for a brief moment, during which Zuko was sure she was going to do something painful to him. But then, something like understanding appeared in her eyes, and her expression changed to a look Zuko couldn't decipher. The only evidence to what was going on inside her head was the mistiness of her eyes and the single, silent tear that broke free to roll down the contour of her cheek. She stood up, still looking at him, then she turned her back on him and walked away in the direction Aang had taken before.

"Wow, you're really going that route?" asked Toph, perplexed.

"Going what route?"

"Oh, spare me, Sparky. I know what you're doing."

Zuko bowed his head and gingerly placed his hand over his recent wound.

"I'm used to this. I can handle it. He's the Avatar, he's got enough to struggle with."

"You know, she didn't believe you..."

Zuko looked over at Toph sharply. "What? Then how come she..."

"She's playing your game now. Hiding her feelings for the Avatar's sake."

Zuko's face registered shock and he turned his head to look again at where Katara was, now at Aang's side. While the airbender mounted the flying bison, he saw her looking back at him. There was no anger in her expression anymore, only bitterness and a subdued, complacent smile.

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**I know the end was kinda sad, but I'm a big Zutara fan (seriously, I hate they didn't end up together in the series), hehe. I like to think Zuko didn't gave up on her after that. **

**Please, review me, the feedback is important for me, since I'm newbie at this. Bye bye!**


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